We have arrived.
Okay so disclaimer off the bat, as I write this we are not exactly "loose" in South Korea but are most definitely COVID19-free.
Karla and I arrived on July 20th to Seoul, South Korea where we will be living for the next two years (at least) while working at Seoul Foreign School. I have joined the PE team and Karla will be teaching MS Visual Art. We are thrilled to be here. We secured these jobs in November, looking for new experiences and the opportunity to teach different grade levels. While we were living very comfortably and loved working at the International School of Beijing, after 6 and 4 years in Beijing it was time for a new challenge. This post will be about our arrival. In future posts I hope to detail some past adventures so stay tuned.
Karla and I arrived on July 20th to Seoul, South Korea where we will be living for the next two years (at least) while working at Seoul Foreign School. I have joined the PE team and Karla will be teaching MS Visual Art. We are thrilled to be here. We secured these jobs in November, looking for new experiences and the opportunity to teach different grade levels. While we were living very comfortably and loved working at the International School of Beijing, after 6 and 4 years in Beijing it was time for a new challenge. This post will be about our arrival. In future posts I hope to detail some past adventures so stay tuned.
We spent March - July with Karla's parents in Virginia and were anxious to arrive here and resume a life where we can go out in public, socialize with others and not live with our parents (we love you and are eternally grateful for you Tom and Elaine!!!). As you may have gleaned from the news, South Korea is handling this current pandemic slightly better than the United States.
These positive trends are not achieved without lots of responsible government oversight and hard work.
South Korea’s response to COVID-19 stands out because it flattened the epidemic curve quickly without closing businesses, issuing stay-at-home orders, or implementing many of the stricter measures adopted by other high-income countries. The country has shown early success across three phases of the epidemic preparedness and response framework: detection, containment, and treatment. From the outset, decision making in South Korea has been a collaboration between the government and the scientific community. - Our World in Data.org
Hyperlinks above will explain it to you in an easy-to-understand if you are so inclined, I will talk about our personal experience:
MAkin' Moves
Seoul Foreign School is a highly regarded and well-organized school and we were assured that while it may take some effort, our visas would be cleared and we would be able to fly to Seoul. We would need to arrive before the school year started and to be "set loose" in Korea we would need to spend two weeks in isolation in order to do that. We traveled to the Korean consulate in Washington, DC with fistfuls of paperwork and were able to secure our visas with minimal stress. Our school helped us book our flights and this process was also pretty stress-free for us.
We were worried that travelers from the United States would be "blacklisted" like they have been in so many countries (including my home and native land, Canada). We did some minor visiting with friends and families with a heavy dose of social distancing during our time in the US and were adamant about not catching the bug before our flights. If we showed any symptoms or positive test in any period in the two weeks leading up to our flight, we would not be allowed to board the airplane. While checking in we were told to sign a waiver in which we would agree to be lawfully quarantined on arrival and checked in to be monitored at a hospital in the event we tested positive for COVID19.
We were worried that travelers from the United States would be "blacklisted" like they have been in so many countries (including my home and native land, Canada). We did some minor visiting with friends and families with a heavy dose of social distancing during our time in the US and were adamant about not catching the bug before our flights. If we showed any symptoms or positive test in any period in the two weeks leading up to our flight, we would not be allowed to board the airplane. While checking in we were told to sign a waiver in which we would agree to be lawfully quarantined on arrival and checked in to be monitored at a hospital in the event we tested positive for COVID19.
Once through security, we were greeted with the eerie sight of an almost empty terminal with most of the services shut down due to a complete void of customers. We were able to find a place to get a bite to eat and a beer to calm the nerves before boarding the flight as we would be required to wear masks for the duration of our 14.5 hour flight. We were given four forms to fill out on the plane which included arrival, quarantine info and employment. The flight was non-eventful; and after a few movies, a couple glasses of red wine and some melatonin later we had arrived in Korea. We were pleasantly surprised to have a Korean option for our first airplane meal and this kickass safety film with Korean superstars SuperM. SuperM is great and all, but my personal highlight of the film is the rapping bear.
After deplaning we had a 9 step process in order to be taken to our on-campus apartment for our two week home quarantine:
Step 1: Download the Home Quarantine tracking app in which we need to report our symptoms twice a day.
Step 2: Interview with medical official to report any symptoms and travel history, with them contacting our sponsor (our school) to be sure we are here for good reason.
Step 3: Fill out 4 more forms listing our information, address and agreement for quarantine again.
Step 4: Have our temperature checked again.
Step 5: Give all forms to a border officer as they check out visa status.
Step 6: Collect baggage, exit through arrivals and have our temperature checked again.
Step 7: Be assigned taxi driver and discuss where we are going.
Step 8: Pick up local SIM cards so we can register our phone number with the health office.
Step 9: Leave airport!
Incheon Airport is about an hour away from our new school in the city of Seoul so we had some time to contact our school again to tell them when we are on our way. Bleary-eyed, we got out of the taxi and were warmly greeted by two of our Principals who could not come close to help but did snap a photo of us. Our door had more greetings on it as most of the staff live in on-campus housing. There were some essential items inside waiting for us like towels, bedsheets, dishes and a bottle of wine(!). For the last several months we have been lucky to be in contact with our school pen pals who have been here at SFS for the last 17 years (!!). They also were kind enough to leave some personal touches in our apartment like bagels(!!!), notes and small plant to keep us company.
Step 1: Download the Home Quarantine tracking app in which we need to report our symptoms twice a day.
Step 2: Interview with medical official to report any symptoms and travel history, with them contacting our sponsor (our school) to be sure we are here for good reason.
Step 3: Fill out 4 more forms listing our information, address and agreement for quarantine again.
Step 4: Have our temperature checked again.
Step 5: Give all forms to a border officer as they check out visa status.
Step 6: Collect baggage, exit through arrivals and have our temperature checked again.
Step 7: Be assigned taxi driver and discuss where we are going.
Step 8: Pick up local SIM cards so we can register our phone number with the health office.
Step 9: Leave airport!
Incheon Airport is about an hour away from our new school in the city of Seoul so we had some time to contact our school again to tell them when we are on our way. Bleary-eyed, we got out of the taxi and were warmly greeted by two of our Principals who could not come close to help but did snap a photo of us. Our door had more greetings on it as most of the staff live in on-campus housing. There were some essential items inside waiting for us like towels, bedsheets, dishes and a bottle of wine(!). For the last several months we have been lucky to be in contact with our school pen pals who have been here at SFS for the last 17 years (!!). They also were kind enough to leave some personal touches in our apartment like bagels(!!!), notes and small plant to keep us company.
Normally new arrivals to Korea will be brought to the testing facility immediately but because we arrived after 6pm we were permitted to walk ourselves to the local health office on our first day to be registered for quarantine and tested for COVID19. We walked slowly, savoring our last opportunity to step outside the house for the next 14 days. The process once again including filling out forms and answering questions but was fairly smooth until the time came to be tested. It isn't the most pleasant experience, having a Q-tip shoved up your nose, but it is much better than the alternative of breathing through a ventilator or spending time in the ICU. We received our results via text message within SEVEN HOURS(!!!!!) and am happy to report that we don't have the 'vid.
Twice a day we need to take our temperature and log our symptoms using the home quarantine app. It tracks our location and even if the phone doesn't move from one spot within the home it will start beeping because it suspects you may have left your home and gone to mingle with the locals. You better believe you will be getting a visit from health and law enforcement officials if you choose to break the rules (with potential jail and a hasty deportation likely following).
Twice a day we need to take our temperature and log our symptoms using the home quarantine app. It tracks our location and even if the phone doesn't move from one spot within the home it will start beeping because it suspects you may have left your home and gone to mingle with the locals. You better believe you will be getting a visit from health and law enforcement officials if you choose to break the rules (with potential jail and a hasty deportation likely following).
As of this writing we have made it to day 4 of our home quarantine without killing eachother. Things seem to be very efficient here and the community is INCREDIBLY supportive and sympathetic to our situation. There are about 30 other new hires (singles, couples and families) also "enjoying" their home quarantines right now. The rest of the staff here has generously offered to drop off needed items and help newbies like us navigate online delivery of household items, food and groceries. I ordered a new TV and we had it delivered within 24 hours! The apartment is a bit of a downsize from our apartment in Beijing and Karla has been measuring and thinking of plans on how we can fit our 97-box shipment as comfortably and creatively as we can. We are definitely excited to see our stuff again, having left it behind unceremoniously in January. It should arrive a few weeks after we complete our quarantine and we are issued our Alien Registration Card.
To pass the time as "productively" as possible, Karla made us a chart in which we can check off daily goals. My list includes three different workouts a day, reading 50+ pages and writing in this blog. Karla's list also includes working out, making art and working on her online interior design course. Other teachers dropped off some helpful artmaking supplies for her and some workout equipment (including a bike and indoor trainer!) for me.
The TV purchase was a big get and the re-arrival of sports will be a welcome addition back into the world since I will be stuck indoors until August 3rd. We are grateful that we are able to open the door to accept deliveries from our kind colleagues/neighbors and we will likely be ordering some Korean fried chicken this weekend. We have a balcony that we can go out and get some fresh air on, and the campus is covered in trees with birds singing their sweet summer songs. We have to keep everything within our apartment until our two weeks is over as our trash is classified as "medical waste." No one can enter and we cannot leave, but we are making the most of it.
To pass the time as "productively" as possible, Karla made us a chart in which we can check off daily goals. My list includes three different workouts a day, reading 50+ pages and writing in this blog. Karla's list also includes working out, making art and working on her online interior design course. Other teachers dropped off some helpful artmaking supplies for her and some workout equipment (including a bike and indoor trainer!) for me.
The TV purchase was a big get and the re-arrival of sports will be a welcome addition back into the world since I will be stuck indoors until August 3rd. We are grateful that we are able to open the door to accept deliveries from our kind colleagues/neighbors and we will likely be ordering some Korean fried chicken this weekend. We have a balcony that we can go out and get some fresh air on, and the campus is covered in trees with birds singing their sweet summer songs. We have to keep everything within our apartment until our two weeks is over as our trash is classified as "medical waste." No one can enter and we cannot leave, but we are making the most of it.